PT EP III novel did a better job on Anakin

In the novel he was more mature and much darker after he fall to the Dark Side, make jokes with the CIS leaders, gave a logical plan to Padme about overthrowing Palpatine, that's more like a Sith.

 

Entirely disagreed.
The novel did a better job on Vader... o rather, on the badass Vader some fans wanted to see (an exaggerated and distorted version of his ESB self, killing people left and right while cracking up jokes).
The movie did a better job on Anakin, the tragic figure that was raised and manipulated to create his own fall.

 

But movies have other advantages.. other ways to get the point across (or "to tell what's inside someone's head"). Music, lighting, colour-scheme, camera work, editing... All those elements can sometimes traslate what's going on inside one character's head better than a novel... which, after all, only has words to do the same job.

 

oierem

I agree. I always found that the novel was very problematic, especially in terms of Anakin and Padmé's relationship. Anakin is portrayed as constantly suspicious of her (from the moment he arrives on Coruscant, he thinks that there's someone else) instead of showing genuine concern for her as in the film. There's one part where he grips her arms until he hurts her and then there's the unnerving passage where he thinks of her as a bug to squashed.

But there's also other little things. Padmé herself doesn't ring true to me in the novel. When she says, for example, that being Anakin's wife is the most important thing to her, more important than being a Senator or a Queen, I can't help but disbelieve that. Especially since she refuses to join Anakin once he turns and forms the Empire. There's also the fact that the person she wanted to tell about the proto-Rebellion in the book was Obi-Wan while Lucas, in the deleted scenes, makes this clear that it is supposed to be Anakin.

Then there's the issue of the book being a tad too melodramatic. I always felt that the scene with Anakin falling over himself to tell Mace Windu the truth didn't really work. Anakin isn't very open with the Council and he puts up a lot of fronts with them, trying to reign in his emotions. I couldn't see him actually letting his guard down enough to talk to Mace Windu in such a manner (sadly) which is part of his problem.

And this doesn't even get into how, well, sociopathic Anakin can seem at the end of the book (for lack of a better word). The one-liners have been mentioned, but the jokes, and the line about "putting on his Anakin Skywalker face" just don't work for me. Truly, it's the film that works perfectly for me. The book is not without its merits, but overall, I found the bad outweighed the good.

 

But there's also other little things. Padmé herself doesn't ring true to me in the novel. When she says, for example, that being Anakin's wife is the most important thing to her, more important than being a Senator or a Queen, I can't help but disbelieve that

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LOL

remind me to ask for a refund on my ROTS novel

this is how it feels to be a mad hatter:

 

I don't like to view Anakin and Vader as different persona, they are the same one.

 

While I agree with the above, it is "less clear" to the "audience" as so many of these movie cues have been differently interpreted by moviegoers: The Force theme plays while Obi-Wan is hanging in the pit: he regroups and catapaults himself out of the pit.

One version: he released his anger and reached for the Force, killing Maul out of necessity.
Another version: he was using the dark and killed Maul in anger. Music cue is only music, not a cue.

As for the novel: I love the novel. I usually prefer the novel. But there are elements of this novel, like Padme's preference for being "Anakin's wife" that seem too at odds with the movie.

 

I think the only thing the novel did a good job with, was by giving an explanation for why Anakin wanted to be a Master.

 

In my opinion, giving an actual, specific (and reasonable) motive is a bad choice. Anakin wanted to be a Master because he felt he deserved it, he couldn't help thinking that he deserved it (even though sometimes he wouldn't admit even to himself), and he was told several times that he deserved it. It's much more complex, pshycologically, and is tied to the idea that he is the one he caused his own downfall.

 

I didn't mean that... I meant that he movie did a better job on Anakin, aka the potentially great Jedi who was seduced by the darkside and ultimately consumed by it. Vader is the result of that consumed persona, a shadow of Anakin. A pathetic figure, as both ROTS and ROTJ show.

The novel did a better job portraying the idealized image that some fans have of Vader (based on part of his actions in ANH and TESB): cool, bad-ass villain, who enjoys being evil.

 

I agree I think the novel did a much better job with the film, The Mustafar scenes also made more sense with the dialogue and Anakin didn't sound like an angry teen because Obi-wan was such a meeney-head like Hayden did it in the film.

I thought the book also did a better job making the Jedi seem less stupid too. Having Yoda go to Kashyykk as a trap to draw Sidious out rather than as a bunch of disorganised Hippies running a war is a much better motivation, While the whole Obi-wan going to kill Grevious alone is much better explained and makes much more sense with Palpatine really pulling the string's their.

All in all I love the book one of the best Stawars books around.

 

To be honest, one of the things that I don't like about giving Anakin a more specific motive to wanting to be a Master is that it feels almost like an excuse. Kind of like when Stover says that Obi-Wan saw Palpatine's shuttle arriving and that's why he had no time to kill Anakin -- it doesn't ring true to me. Add to that the fact that I found his little outburst in the Council room to be far more dark and egotistic than in the film, and I don't really like the book's version.

In the book, it describes how his voice gets deeper and angrier and he shouts something to the effect of "I am more powerful than all of you."

While in the film, he basically just says "What? How can you be on the Council and not be a Master?"

The film works better, for me, because I think it gets to the heart of a lot of Anakin's problems with the Jedi -- he wants to be included and made equal and be recognized. He seems like a very "deeds" oriented person rather than a philosophical type. I think it would have confused him why when he just saved the Chancellor and defeated Count Dooku (while carrying an unconscious Council Member that he saved), he he was unworthy of being a Master in their eyes.

There's a little part in the film, for instance, that bolsters this interpretation for me: when Anakin tells the Council that the Chancellor has requested that he lead the campaign, Yoda's response is that "a Master is needed." Of course, Yoda was just referring to experience, but I think it contributed to Anakin's sense of isolation and the feeling that the Council had intentionally put him in this position.

I always felt the novel did far more to make Anakin sound like an angry teen. There's one point in the book where he tells Obi-Wan, "I am so sick of your lectures!" as they are fighting. I can't really think of anything comparable in the film, personally.

 

Disagree in the film council scene he actually whines that its unfair, not what I would expect from a powerful war veteran.

Again disagree about the Mustafar scenes, though my issues are more with Hayden's line delivery (I know people who love the film who don't think its great) and the editing, going from "your new empire" to don't make me kill you seemed so random.

I also prefer that ending rather than Obi-wan just standing there watching him burn to death while declaring he loves him.

 

I have to agree with this.
I think it was a nice decision that they didn't connect his desire to become a Master with his wish to save Padmé. Padmé should be his main motivation, but I don't think it should be his sole motivation. Anakin is someone who wants to be appreciated and valued. He is someone who needs private comfort as well as professional acknowledgement.
So I think it was good they made clear that Anakin, in some ways, was just displeased with the Jedi and felt they tried to hold him back (which works well with dialogue in other scenes) which made it easier for him to betray them.

 

I disagree. Saying that it is unfair when every other member of the Council is a master is far less immature than declaring that he is more powerful than everyone less. While it's certainly not an ideal reaction, in the film, Anakin is protesting what he believes to be a policy issue -- that he is not being treated the way a Council member should be. In the book though, it seems to me as though he's elevating himself above everyone else. But we can agree to disagree on this matter. Regardless, it doesn't reflect well on Anakin -- he's either saying "it's unfair" or "I'm better than you" but I happen to think the former is better handled.

I guess I don't see what's wrong with Hayden's delivery. I don't have a lot of trouble imagining what he says (and the tone he says it in) in James Earl Jones' voice.

Personally, in terms of "don't make me kill you," I never had a problem with that line as Anakin makes it very clear that he has developed a very "with me or against me" mentality and if Obi-Wan is going to try to oppose him, then he's not going to let that slide.

Stover's ending doesn't work for me because he seems to be trying to eliminate the moral ambiguity of Obi-Wan's actions while making excuses for him. I don't care if Sidious' shuttle is coming, it would take half a second to kill Anakin and is irresponsible to leave him there if he knows that help could be on the way for the Sith. The films, at least, don't try to give a half-baked reason. Obi-Wan loves Anakin, but he's also heartbroken and likely angry at him for what he's done. That's going to produce a lot of emotional conflict, so I can understand why Obi-Wan would choose to leave him. He's not perfect and he's at the end of his rope. Saying he didn't kill Anakin because Sidious' shuttle was coming feels cheap and reduces his complexity as a character in my opinion.

 

While I did like the novel, I feel it is a wee bit overhyped. It's not perfect by any stretch of the imagination, partially for some of the reasons listed above (Anakin's fall becoming single issue psychology, the cheesy one liners on Mustafar, off moments between Anakin and Padme).

One thing I noticed was that the opening 10 minutes or so of the movie (the rescue of Palpatine from the Invisible Hand) took up a third of the book. It makes it feel always Stover started writing the book and then realised he was running out of time and had to hurry things up.

Also, and this isn't at all Stover's, but it feels completely different from all the other film novelisations, which in turn feel completely different from each other. Unavoidable, especially as the Saga itself was still evolving as well, but it might be cool to see a single author go back and rewrite them all to create a single continuous narrative that really gets to the heart of the characters and the SW universe. Maybe with A Song of Ice and Fire (the Game of Thrones book series) style POV chapters.

(One thing I'll never understand is why film adaptations of books are among the most celebrated in cinema, yet the novelisation is looked down upon. I guess it's just the nature of them being merchandise rush jobs. Very few take advantage of their ability to transcend what's on screen and give us something better.)

 

I love the book. Not only did it really get into Anakin's head, but I loved how they showed Obi Wan nearly falling apart twice. I know they basically showed that with Yoda in the film, but at least have Obi Wan show a little emotion. He just seemed to be going through the motions themselves. Also, I don't remember how they were in the book, but I hated how, in the film, the battledroids sounded like cartoon characters, instead of killing machines.

My only complaint about the book is that it didn't cover Yoda on Kashyyk, but maybe he didn't have all that info at the time.

 

I think there is always dark deed in his mind, and once it's out he just turns into a real Sith rather than some angry teen.

 

That's 100 times better than some naive nonsense.


The only thing that the movie did better than the novel is Dooku's death, in the movie Lee didn't beg or even say a word, just used his expression to show the feeling of betrayal.